Have you ever walked down the street and had a random stranger smile at you? Did you find yourself smiling back? Some actions seem to be contagious, especially yawning! Here is a fun experiment to try. Can your smile cause others to smile in response? Is smiling contagious?
Materials:
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- A partner to act as the observer
- A public space (a park, a mall, a library)
- A good amount and mixture of people
What to do:
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- Place the observer in the public space where there is a good amount of people, but out of the way so they do not influence any behavior.
- Choose who will be the “smiler” and have them walk casually though the space smiling at others.
- As the smiler walks through the space, record the reactions of passersby. Specifically, note if any of the passersby smile in response.
- To establish a baseline (or control group), repeat the experiment with a neutral or non-smiling expression. Observe the reactions of passersby in this scenario. Be sure to do this in the same location, and at the same time of day to ensure comparisons are as accurate as possible.
- Now look at the data collected. Compare the number of smiles observed in response to the smiling participant, to the number of smiles observed in response to the neutral expression.
Results:
If the hypothesis is correct, we would expect to see higher numbers of smiles in response to the smiler compared to the non-smiler. This would suggest that smiling is indeed contagious!
